Spotlight on the Economics of Decarbonising Glass Wine Bottles
This show was published 01 March 2024
- Spotlight on the Economics of Decarbonising Glass Wine Bottles
Overview
Chris looks into the economics of decarbonising the glass used for wine bottles in the UK.
The carbon footprint of wine is dominated by packaging and shipping with up to 50% of the carbon footprint associated with glass bottes and shipping the heavy glass bottes around.
Glass bottles are an inefficient packaging solution, accounting for about half the volume of packaging in a case of wine, and around 40% of the weight. On top of this the production of glass is an energy and carbon intensive process.
There are many alternatives to glass including aluminium cans and plastic, with many environmental producers moving to these lower carbon options. But glass still dominates.
In this spotlight we will be looking at what options there are to decarbonise the production of glass bottles.
Other energy sources are less efficient than gas to power a furnace, but they are more carbon friendly and therefore more sustainable.
To look at the economics, Chris compares the efficiencies of alternative energy sources to power glass furnaces:
Efficiency Mid Point
Gas powered Furnace 40% - 70% 55%
Gas powered with CCS* 24% - 63% 44%
Electric Furnace 26% - 50% 38%
Hydrogen Furnace 12% - 45% 28%
* Carbon Capture & Storage - waste Co2 is captured and stored underground.
In summary, moving away from glass would cost roughly 20p per bottle (very rough guide)
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Music
The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.